Future 500 points to the direction of future development
―Triple bottom line represents the right way for economic development in this post-industrialization era

Jiang Zhenghua
Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress
Future500 China Symposium, Beijing, October 18, 2005

Ladies gentlemen and friends：
I am delighted to attend the Future 500 China 2005 Forum which affords me an opportunity to discuss with experts, scholars and entrepreneurs topics of common concerns.
Future 500 emerges as a pointer to the right direction of future development as it advocates the triple bottom line of a company which combines economic, social and environmental responsibilities. We believe it represents the right direction of development in this post-industrialization era.
To be sure, this era we are in may have different description, but from the perspective of human future, I personally believe that Future 500 is a good expression of the concerns we all entertain towards future. Between 1954 when Fortune 500 was found and 1995 which witnessed the birth of Future 500, humanity has come a long way in their rational thinking, as human perception of the world has also experienced a quantum leap. Future 500 is the answer to the world-wide call of sustainable development as well as the orientation of decision-making in China.
This forum is an attempt to integrate Chinese economy closer with the world economy. Its predecessor focused on implementing the scientific outlook on development while the currant one aims to help build a harmonious society. I appreciate the focus of this forum on China’s national strategic development objectives.
In the 21st century, the Central Government put forward a new development philosophy which is people-centric, comprehensive and sustainable. In so doing, we want to build a harmonious society that puts equal emphasis on political, ethical, economic and social dimensions of a country.
In this year’s UN summit, President Hu put forward the concept of “harmonious world”, which was echoed by many other countries. I think Future 500 made a similar attempt from corporate perspective. These efforts will help us carry out the scientific approaches to development and build a harmonious society. In return, China, as a big developing country, can serve as a textbook sample whose exploration along the way may inspire other countries in their development.
Some people dismiss the Future 500 as “moving way too far ahead of time to many businesses and countries”, which, I happen to beg to differ. As the old Chinese saw goes, “a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step”. Not to mention the fact that recourses depletion, energy crisis, discrimination, disasters and other issues have already cut across boundaries, the bleak picture has made more acute on the part of many right-thinking politicians, business people and scientists the urgency of changing our behaviors, including corporate conduct in China. But as we know, companies are just cells of the social organism, and the paradigm shift is necessary not only to companies, to my view, but also to political, economic, interpersonal, cross-country relationship, that is to say, harmony should prevail in all aspect of life.
Therefore, I really appreciate the experts and scholars who have introduced the Future 500 to China, this act demonstrates their courage and vision and social responsibility. And I am very grateful for their tremendous efforts and dedication.
I would also like to congratulate the three companies --- Sinopec, Nanjing Guodian Automation and DHV China（Holland based） --- on their membership with Future 500 Global companies through the tough assessment process. And I appreciate the efforts made by them to improve their corporate image.
I truly believe that China needs more such companies with novel ideas and concepts, and I also hope to see more companies embrace this new concept. At the same time, I hope Future 500 have more support from government as well as attention from the academia, for the sake of its development.
I think the indicators and the contents of the Future 500 could serve as pointers of future development. Although this system is targeted specifically at companies, it also serves as good reference in other aspects. For example on the part of the government, which company we should support? How to? In terms of legal development, what kind of legal system can facilitate the development of future-oriented companies, who shall benefit the development of our future generation and a harmonious society? These questions all deserve our consideration in which Future 500 could help. So I think it is desirable to expand the study of Future 500 from corporate level to other levels for the benefit of the revitalization of the Chinese nation.
As many of us can recall, there is a Confucius-minded business tradition in China, a good case in point in the businessmen in Anhui Province. A hallmark of this tradition is that in time of national crisis and personal distress, these entrepreneurs would always stand ready to extend a helping hand. In addition to this helping spirit, they also value credibility, responsibility towards the general public, the nation as well as contribution for society, which I think, are very much identical to what is campaigned by the Future 500. There are some other find tradition such as “to agree to disagree agreeably’, put it in another way, it is perfectly ok for us to differ, but on some major principal issues, we could reach consensus, for the difference, we can always try to smooth them out through communication or simply begging to differ. Again we find this philosophy similar to the concepts advocated by this organization and such coincidence of thought is not rare and in this respect China has a lot to offer to the bigger world.
This year also marks 60th anniversary of the victory of anti-Fascist war. And we have greeted many of our old friends from America, Japan and Europe. The famed pilots from the Flying Tigers were also present in the ceremony. We also had Japanese friends who fought side by side with us in those days, a good expression of international cooperation. The Future 500, which is our topic today, is originated from the States, and then was introduced to Japan and China, I think it is a good beginning, since it is international corporation in another form, spreading a well-conceived concept to the whole world. I personally think that this concept, Future 500, will open new avenue of cooperation in the economic sphere with other countries, in which we can do our due contribution.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends, let us join hands to create a better future for human kind. Global village has been talked about for long, and we are the villagers in this small world. The astronauts from Shenzhou VI have just returned from the space to earth, and China has received tons of congratulation letters from many countries for this great feat. While working hard to reach our development goal in economy, we also want to explore the outer space. If we can look into the other space, why can not we hand our earth business well? These global issues call for global efforts. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to you all: when it comes to some major problems which human fate and future are at stake, we should put aside the stereotype concepts and differences, and work hand in hand for the brighter future.